I’ve been working on a research project about the contemporary state of filmmaking in Iraq, and I am continually coming across new and exciting projects and ventures that support this country’s cinema. This country and its artists have suffered tremendously, but it hasn’t dampened the spirit and motivation of artists to produce material that interprets, reflects on and responds to the past 11 years, or the past 30 years, for that matter. On the contrary, artists’ resolve has strengthened, and they are constantly met with open arms and support from the domestic and international communities. Despite very real security threats and the lack of resources and professional training, filmmakers in Iraq are determined to rebuild a cinema that reflects the dynamic cultural voices of its population.

Numerous Iraqi filmmakers, working both inside and outside the country, are developing this nascent filmmaking community and are eager to share their works with the world. I recently came across the Baghdad International Film Festival, which has screened a festival three times since 2007, which has been organized in part by an NGO called No Borders Iraqi Cinematographers. There is another festival hosted by the Independent Film & Television College in Baghdad, the Documentary Film Festival Iraq, which screens Iraqi-produced films. There are mobile cinemas that screen films in various cities around the country, developed in large part because of the dire lack of permanent cinema theaters. There are initiatives to support filmmakers, resource acquisition, professional development, and cultural exchange. There is a lot happening in this country’s film industry that is exciting, inspiring, meaningful and absolutely necessary.

I am starting to make connections with Iraqi filmmakers and other film professionals who can speak more comprehensively about the scope of filmmaking in the country. Mohamed Al-Daradji, one of the country’s leading filmmakers, has spoken with me about some of his experiences and motivations for working in this area. I will soon talk with the director of the Baghdad International Film Festival as well. It’s all very exciting to link up with people working on the other side of the world.

I will present a work-in-progress overview of this research at the Modern Language Association conference in Seattle in early January, and an article on the topic will be included in a book that I am co-editing with Dr. Doris Baltruschat entitled The Meaning of Independence: Independent Filmmaking Around the World. I hope that this research will be the beginning of several research inquiries into the state of Iraqi filmmaking, so that we can understand how a film industry rebuilds itself and continues to live.